


Time and again

by Honey_Rae_Pluto



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band), Real Person Fiction
Genre: 1960s, 1970s, Alternate Universe, Band Fic, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, I dont even know how time travel works, Living Together, Love, Music, Period Typical Attitudes, Period-Typical Homophobia, Slow Burn, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, please don't question the time travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2019-10-20 23:59:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17632238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Honey_Rae_Pluto/pseuds/Honey_Rae_Pluto
Summary: She lived in the her whole 21st century life, dreaming of experiencing in a time she weren't even born in, of meeting people that no longer walk the earth, of seeing moments long gone or forgotten in time. And then she did.She found yourself in the freezing cold days of December 1967, looking straight at a certain Mr Roger Taylor.Time travel propels a young girl back to the 60's, where she learns to live and love with the help of the members of a certain band. But how much can she tell them of what's to come? Can she actually change the future?





	1. The willow green I call her name

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [En El Mismo Tiempo](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18773563) by [Honey_Rae_Pluto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Honey_Rae_Pluto/pseuds/Honey_Rae_Pluto)



Chapter 1;the willow green I call her name

"I think you dropped this..." she hands him the drum stick, holding her head as the world flies around it, the ground jumping upwards, the darkness enveloping around about her like an old friend, the coldness disappearing. In the air, she thinks she can hear a slight melody, perhaps even just a familiar noise- then that too stops.

***

There was nothing strange in the morning that day, and Hayley thought she knew how it would end. The Smythe family had gone to spend a few days with extended relatives, somewhere up in the north of Scotland far from the English Border town that they lived on, all her friends staying at home during the long weekend holidays. The house was too far away from civilisation (a farm in the middle of nowhere) for the young woman to really be able to get up to much, but this came as a blessing as there wasn’t neighbours to annoy with loud music. So she did what she had to for the weekend; study for the preliminary exams that had her literally on the cusp of leaving school and becoming a prostitute over. All listening to loud 70’s music- wishing that she could go back, see everything.  
That being said: there was nothing off when Hayley awoke to a quiet house on Friday the 1st of December 2017. In fact, it had been the beginning of a perfectly average day, wake up, send texts to worried parents and gossiping friends, study, eat, watch too much Christmas TV and go do some more work for school. The same old routine for the day, it should start the same and end the same, except it didn't.

It was about tea time, the clock stated exactly 6:48 pm. She sat upstairs in her bedroom, defrosted pizza on a nearby plate, and a laptop on the desk by the window seat, music blasted out of the record player- Queen II. The darkness outside laid heavily on the small open garden that separated the house from the field. It only had some hedges, a small blue shed and about 20 thin willow trees that lamented in the side of the house, as if in some form of prayer. Hayley remembered that she had never liked to play there in the dark as a child. Her mother found it funny at first, that her daughter's favourite den, the caged bark that collected all your childhood fantasies and make beliefs was the same place that scared her at night. Her mum thought there must be something wrong with her- there was no reason to be so afraid of the willows. But nothing ever came of it.

After she became more of a grown up, the worry became worse as your dislike of the small jungle only seemed to grow as she aged. Hayley hadn’t really thought about it in years, school and friends taking over the time she would spend in the willows.

The young woman had ended up engulfed in the work, so much so she hadn't realised the way in which the cold suddenly made the windows glaze over with ice. The music from the record, now playing 'Brighton Rock', loudly in the background stopping her from noticing the cattle lowing louder than ever, the sharp gusts of wind and the howling rain, picking up out of nowhere. The hooded figure stood under the willow arch. The only thing to shake Hayley’s concentration was the sudden smashing of the thin window pane in front of her laptop. She looked out of the window, glaring towards the dark fields trying to identify the culprit- seeing no one, just the cold attacking the warmth of the bedroom. Stepping back into broken glass carefully, she sees that it wasn't a stone or bottle, but in fact a drumstick, 'oh good' Hayley had thought bitterly 'musical thugs'.

Quickly moving to get into a Marvel hoodie and pulling jogging bottoms over the pyjama shorts she wore, then running downstairs towards the front door. Even whilst pulling on too-big Wellingtons and her Dad’s Macintosh, she hadn't noticed the cloaked figure outside of your house. Even as she gripped the torch in one hand, cricket bat in the other (just in case), she hadn't noticed the way the noises from outside the house folded together into a cacophony of distant bellowing. Even as she pulled the door closed, the cold hitting her face like a slap, pale body tiny against the dark expanse of the night. Even as she walked forward towards the dark patch under the group of willow trees, seeing some tall figure, dressed all in black like a nightmarish fog, hovering above the ground. Even as she walked towards it, pulled under the familiar terrible arch like a magnet. Even as she felt the realisation grabbed your body.

Only then did she know that the night was not going to end as it should have.

***

Later, many years later, Hayley would remember the strange woman in her 80’s that came over with some of her grandmother’s friends when she was about 3 or 4 years old. She had told Hayley that they were ancient trees. At the time Hayley had thought the elderly woman was a mental case (her strong accent made it hard to take seriously), but listened anyway as she told her that there was once a druid clan that lived in the area- “oh, aye. Lassie, I’d ‘ave ye know that there’s all manner o’ magic folk an’ the like in this very willow arch,” she had pointed to the frontmost trees, thin and smaller than the rest, they met at the top in a graceful embrace, like two hands’ fingertips just touching “ I reckon they aught to go to where ye belong, aye, there’s yer dreams will be, Lass.” Her expression was difficult to interpret, much like the entire experience.

“What? The trees? ”Hayley asked her, not really understanding.

“Aye, bairn. The trees. They’re much alike to doors, opening to give ye what ye want or need.” a kind smile stretched across her old features. She noticed then that her face, despite lines of experience here and there, looked to be very beautiful; ‘like a kind old queen, who had ruled for a very long time’ Hayley remembered thinking. She looked up at her curiously “have you ever been through the tree doors?”. She had looked at the young child for a long second, taking the small hand in hers as if they were made of porcelain, her dark chocolate eyes glazing over.

“Once, a long time ago,” a tear slipped from her eyes. Eyes which had a remarkably youthful sheen to them, “oh, (Y/N), dinae fret on ma tears: i’m no sad.” she said smiling, turning to leave as she walked back up the path, away from the house. After she left, Hayley had asked for her, but no one had seen anyone of that description. ‘Perhaps’, her mother had thought about her child’s mind, ‘there was something wrong’. However, after she left, whilst a young Hayley had stood among the trees dumbfounded, looking for door to other lands , the young girl found a note;  
“Dear Lay  
I’ve lived a long and happy life, I could never be sad about it, I loved too hard to ever feel alone or sad or scared. It was hard, at times impossible, and unclear and terrifying. But there was always a knight in shining armour looking out for me. I travelled back a long time ago, met the love of my life. You will too, I’m certain of it. Things will change one day- you might be very scared- but be brave.  
You’ll know what I mean one day.  
P.S, the path you are given is the one you have made”.

One day, Hayley did know what she meant. She blamed her for the blessing. She thanked her for the curse. But one day, she would know what the strange old woman had meant.

*** 

The branches scratch at her face and arms. Her clothes are getting torn. She can feel light cuts forming. Bleeding. Hayley clutched the drumstick in her frozen hand as the bat and torch fell away- out of reach. The bellowing noise screamed both in the distance and near by. It was light and dark- flashing. The cold burned. She felt sick. The world spun, with a disorientated Hayley tumbling around on it. She couldn’t think, it was like flight or fight, but helpless either way. A cold sweat broke across her scratched brow, hands shaking. It felt like falling. It all began to disappear, the lights dimmed but did not go black. The noise tuned itself out until it was just a half-empty street, cars driving past, people having a party elsewhere, houses buzzing with TVs.

Hayley opens her eyes fully, hoping the universe had at least momentarily stopped trying to shake her off of it. Luckily it had. Cold bloodied hands feel around the cold concrete to realise that she was lying face down on a frozen pavement, no where near any fields or farms or willow trees. Pulling herself into a sitting position, noticing a young man staring straight at her, a gobsmacked expression draped over his features. The young woman stood up shakily- this is all getting to much- ‘where am I?’ ‘Have I been drugged?’ the open street closes in. Fleetingly she thinks that she might recognise the man- ‘Maybe he’s a drummer...’ looking at the drum stick in her hand, before taking a few hunched steps towards him. He looks at the girl like he’s seen a ghost.

"I think you dropped this..." she hands him the drum stick, holding her head as the world flies around it, the ground jumping upwards, the darkness enveloping around about her like an old friend, the coldness disappearing. In the air, she thinks she can hear a slight melody, perhaps even just a familiar noise- then that too stops.


	2. It's not the waking, it's the rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so finally find yourself on the other side of the willow portal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello darlings,  
> this is my first work on AO3, so don't be too harsh, but if any of you sweethearts would like to give any love and advice I would very much like to hear it.
> 
> Love,  
> Honey xx

“Roger! What the hell?” screamed one of the voices, a deep male one. Another voice, shushed him.

“Well I couldn’t exactly leave her there, could I.” replied a slightly higher voice, it seemed more raw, more energetic, but still recognisably a man’s tone.

“I still don’t understand what you mean by ‘appeared’, Rog,” Another man, this time in hushed tones, presumably he was the one shushing Mr Deep-Voice at the beginning.

Hayley had started to hear their conversation, but wasn’t able to pull herself out of the slumber. There was a vague pain behind her closed eyes, her muscles felt like they’d gone through some horrendous SAS workout, and her throat scratched simply by breathing.

“I told you Fred, she just appeared. Out of nowhere” a hint of anger in the words of Mr Raw-Voice, greeted by some form of acknowledgement from Mr Shusher, who’s name, seemingly, was Fred.

They carried on like this, Hayley’s fuzzy attention slipping away from them as she slowly awoke. Deep brown eyes opened to see a blurry, cramped living room. It actually had a lot of space, but the pile of drums and guitars and other large music equipment took up most of the far corner. The brunette sat up a little to find herself on a small beige leather sofa, blue velvet cushions under her battered body, and a very 1960’s coffee table sat right in front of the sofa, through the doorway outside of the room Hayley could see three men talking, they were dressed very old fashioned, almost recognisably so- but she couldn’t place them.

Noticing the movement, the one nearest the door strides forwards, “Hey, hey, Sweetheart, take it easy,” pushing the girl gently back onto the sofa he noticed how cold she was. He pulled his jacket off and draping it over the scared girl then crouched down to eye level, “It’s alright, you had a bit of a knock to the head, my love. Can you tell me your name?” he asks, flashing a very toothy smile, his kind chocolate eyes gleaming. ‘He’s familiar,’ she thought distractedly- the room only just starting to focus.

“Hayley,” she stuttered hoarsely, voice breaking a little as she spoke for the first time “Where am I?” dry throat meant she struggled to speak, still to dizzy to panic, not really thinking about the fact that she’d just woken up in a house with three random men. Except that’s it- they’re not random- she knows them, but where from? It was a deep frustration, probably an irrational one at that, it felt like when you have left the house and something's been forgotten- and you spend all day thinking about what it could be, just to find out it wasn’t anything. By that point the other two have walked in to the living room, but stood back giving her a bit of space. The man closest spoke so slowly, as if he wasn’t sure the small pale girl was really keeping up at all- “You’re at 32 Ansdell street, in Kensington. Roger over there,” he points to the shorter of the other two, a young man with a mop of blond hair and deep set blue-grey eyes “found you at the Gardens-”

“Kensington?” finally she started to realise how wrong everything was, not quite clicking yet, “But I wasn’t in Ken- I was in Bamburgh” her breathing had started to speed up, not a huge amount, but enough to fully wake her up. The dark haired man in front of her took her hand, comforting her softly, disregarding the comment, “Don’t worry, my dear, we’ll get you home, or are you staying at the campus?” she looked at him blankly, shaking her head a little, the colour draining from her face. The blond in the back of the room spoke up; revealing him as the raw voiced man from before, “How did you do that appearing from thin air business? Was it a light and mirror trick?”

“You were just drunk, Rog. You stormed out of the studio shit-faced and hit someone with a drum stick.” the third gentleman told Roger directly (ignoring his defensive claim against being intoxicated) , before turning to the panicked girl: “I’m Brian by the way. This is Roger and Freddie. I’ve heard of Bamburgh, but that’s miles away...” he trailed off, clearly expecting some form of explanation.  
“I was at home upstairs,” her hands are now shaking as much as her voice. Hayley remember the broken glass that had started the strange evening “the drum stick broke the window, there was someone in the willow arch- then I was in the street...” ‘Who are they? Why do I know them? How did I get here? How do I get back?’ the questions flying around the inside of her head at hyper speed.

“What do you mean that the stick broke your window? I threw it at the ground in the Gardens. In Kensington. It couldn’t have hit an upstairs where there wasn’t one” the confusion in his voice making it so that he sounded angrier than he meant. “I wasn’t in Kensington. And there was no one outside-” Hayley had started to get more anxious, but the tall curly-haired man called Brian cut her off: “Did you fall through a whirlpool?” it should have sounded like a joke. But the way he said it sounded like he meant it in the most sincere way possible, he walked to stand next to Freddie as he said it, staring at the girl as if she were a terrified animal. As soon as she gave some semblance of a nod, a thought flashed into his eyes, he ran out of the room, muttering something along the lines go being back soon.

“Well,” Freddie started, standing up, slowly letting go of Hayley’s hands “why don’t I get some tea on the boil and we can see what we can work out?”


	3. Penny is in the air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spending some time with the boys reveals to you some of the odder things about them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello,  
> As usually, please comment and have fun reading.  
> I promise it will speed up soon. And yes, I have majorly changed lots of what's happened as i've changed it to an OC rather that reader.  
> Love,  
> Honey xx

The tea managed to calm Hayley down substantially, but she felt as if it was only putting off some inevitable crash. She had worked out a while back the these men weren’t a danger to her, which made her feel more comfortable. It had been about an hour since Brian ran off, now 9 o’clock, and he still hadn’t returned- Roger asking Hayley to stay until he did. He claimed that if something had made Brian come to a conclusion- then it was probably right- or he could at least have come up with an explanation for last night. Roger remained adamant that he had seen Hayley appear out of nowhere- and Freddie (despite finding it all strange) did look like he believed his flatmate. The boys had managed to work out that their unexpected guest wasn’t a danger or a drunk or a lunatic or anything and became friendly, talking about their courses at university, and about the little stall that they ran sometimes.

Although Hayley still couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen them somewhere before, she didn’t mention it, instead concentrated on ignoring the feeling altogether.

They had asked her a bit more about what happened, what she remembered, how she had got to the street, but the brunette remained strong on the point that she hadn’t done anything- just walked through some trees. Hayley had asked about the drum stick and found out that Roger was in a band with Brian and some guy called Tim- who lived with Brian a few houses down. There was a spark or vague remembrance for a second, she almost had the memory- before Freddie changed the subject to her numerous cuts and bruises. He led Hayley to the bathroom and, handed her some antiseptic and some dressing for the larger cuts- “here you go, Hayley, actually, if you give me a minute I’ll bring you a change of clothes to borrow: get you out of this grimmy… thing, and you can use the shower.” he had said looking curiously at her bloodied hoodie, before going to fetch some clothes and handing her a towel, giving the shower a nod. It was after he left, shutting the door behind him that she was left alone for the first time in what felt like forever.

***

Quickly she took off the Wellingtons, then the layers of hoodie and pyjama, until she was stood in front of the small, chipped, bathroom mirror in her underwear, looking at all the new bruises and fresh cuts, all of which had the exact same shape- like a swirling group if lines that bunched together into groups across her body. There was large blue bruises forming across her knees and arms- possibly from falling on the street. There was also the large gash over her forehead and the red bruise that covered half of her face, and was only set to get worse, her waist-length hair was matted and clumped together, and her skin was paler than usual. She stepped away from the mirror, peeling off the last of the stained clothes before standing under the hot spray of the shower, feeling the water pour over her, stinging as it washed out the injuries. It gave her time to think- had that hooded figure drugged her? Why then did they just give her some strange markings on her skin and then leave her? How did they get the drum stick from the Gardens to her house so quickly and what was the point? And what had Brian realised?

She dismissed the questions that continued to arise by the minute- bottling up all the unwanted doubts- as she exited the shower cubicle. Looking around the tiny bathroom, Hayley noticed that, like the rest of the house, it seemed to be very old fashioned- items from the fifties and sixties dotted around the place in reasonably good knick. ‘Strange for two young students to have so little technology in their apartment’ she thought rubbing on the antiseptic the Freddie had given her.

After drying off, the girl looked at the clothes that she’d been lent: a large grey floral v-neck jumper and high waisted jeans. Both items were men’s, and sat awkwardly on her small frame, but held on well with a belt. There wasn’t any shoes so she decided to put on the boots under the flared leg of the trousers. She put her phone into the pocket having already tried to text and phone, but it didn’t have any signal. Which was strange for a built-up area. She thought walking back towards the kitchen that the way she was now dressed fitted in with the rest of the flat.  
***

In the kitchen Hayley saw Freddie and Roger sitting at the table, sorting through some of their work for colleges. She noticed Roger’s front sheet said dentistry in messy handwriting, the initials ‘RMT’ added carelessly at the bottom of the page in biro that half ran out by the T. Freddie’s front page was in the process of being painted in strong acrylic paint- the words ‘Graphic Design and Fashion’ extravagantly laid across the top of the page. In the bottom corner the name; Farrokh Bulsara was written in loopy handwriting in a simple black ink. He noticed the girl looking at his name “It’s an odd name, I know. It’s from -”

“Zanzibar,” she cut him off, not really sure why she knew that “I must have heard it somewhere before. Thanks for the clothes by the way, very retro.” she offered up as an explanation when both of the boys just look at her shocked that she’d heard the name. She quickly change the subject, “Any sign of Brian returning, since you won’t let me leave until he does?”

“Well, he’s only been gone for a few hours, that’s quite a short amount of time for him.” Roger gave her a smile as he joked about, making Hayley mirror the smile. She were still confused, but realised that there must be a good explanation so stopped being so anxious- bottled up another emotion.

“I suppose you could call him, make sure he’s alright and everything,” she suggested, taking a seat at the table.

“Oh, he’ll be fine, love. I doubt he’d hear anyone calling after him though.” Freddie said as he looked at the curious girl strangely.

“I meant on his mobile.” two blank stares, “ What? Doesn’t he have a mobile phone?”

“You do say the most peculiar things, Hayley,” said Roger, dismissing the question, “How’s your head?” she answered that it was better, the cut not as deep as it looked. she stayed quiet after that, they were busy filling in their paperwork for their exams, and Hayley were deep in thought about these odd pair that didn’t appear to have heard of mobiles- “Oi, Fred?” Roger asked at his friend, “ is it the third or fourth today?” he looked at the blank date box on his paper.

“The second. Saturday the second of December all day long, Rog. Nice of you to keep up.” Freddie smiled slightly at his friend who rolled his eyes at him. The statement confused Hayley. She was sure that the previous day had been a Saturday, so today had to be a Sunday. But before she could mention it, the door swung open, and a book laiden Brian entered the house.


	4. I think I’m going slightly mad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the day continues, things fall into place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I have changed things so that I could go into more detail into the character so that she drives the plot rather than being so impersonal. Hope everyone still likes it. I will try to update more often after this. Also the way in which the character makes decisions could be affected by the readers, and as this is a changeable timeline- the future could change, things could end up different than what they are in reality. so please comment with your ideas or opinions.

Chapter 4; I think I’m going slightly mad

“What is the exact date?” Brian had come up to where everyone was sat at the table, looking straight at her, as if she held the answer to the meaning of life, but somehow managed to not impose or scare Hayley despite his height.

“Not another one, I just said to him it was the sec-” Freddie had tried to say, but got cut off by Brian shaking his hand at him; “Don’t you answer. Hayley, according to you, what is the exact date, including the year?”

“December the second 2018” she said, not noticing the two sets of eyes that looked at her from the table in confusion. At those words, Brian exclaimed that he ‘knew it!’ before roughly clearing the table and dropping open a large leather- bound volume onto it.

Brian had had to study this in his first year at Uni- used it as a sub-topic in some paper even, never really thinking it was something that happened- just an anomaly that was used by religion when science can’t answer something. Almost all of the case studies that existed were ancient texts that had evolved into mythologies. More recent evidence still couldn’t be 100%; people disappear all the time, very few did this however. At this point he noticed the expressions on everyone’s faces, and decided that he should probably explain.

“That willow arch, Hayley, is it one of those that had stories about it. Old ones, that sounded a bit silly or like a Tolkien novel? Did it feel strange to be around? Like something was there, or that you were looking at something you couldn’t see,” he looked almost excited, rushing through the words, looking at her for any glimpse of a nod- he carried on when she moved her head- wide eyed and looking like a scared child, “I think it is some kind of wormhole, because this is not 2018-”

“Yes it is!” Hayley advanced angrily- two rough hands at her shoulders holding her gently back, she looked behind to see Roger looking as puzzled as her, “Is this some kind of joke?” she says with less anger, tears threatening to pour over her cheeks. Brian looks like he’s about to say something, Roger is slowly loosening his hold on the girl, in the corner Freddie was just watching the exchange. Hayley took step back, into Roger a little, his hands comforting as her breathing rages in her chest like a storm. In the background Brian starts talking, Freddie asks what a wormhole is- ‘so they were all in on this joke then!’ she fumed, hands shaking as she pulled away towards the front door, trying to pack all the emotions into the bottle that had cracks running down its sides. ‘Sick bastards,’ she thought, breathing as if she had run a marathon. Hayley swung the door open and ran outside, into the warm glow of the sun, trying to suppress the panic that was rising as she looked across the rows of houses and shops, the people were all dressed from the 60’s, so were the cars, the insides of shop windows and what little could be seen into houses were the same.

She started to run up the street, seeing an elderly man reading a newspaper as he walked down past the houses, the boys following at a distance. Her shaking hands snatched it. It didn’t have colour, the tears ran freely down her flushed cheeks. Then she saw the date:

December the 2nd 1967

And the fully strength of the panic hit her. The bottle burst and everything she had been ignoring over the last few days crashed down onto her. The startled old man took back his paper and walked away as the boys went to reach the trembling figure of the girl crying in the street. Roger got there first, pulling her to his chest tightly. His heartbeat next to her ear was the thing that eventually drew her attention back to the reality- the sobbing slowly dying down, emotionally spent after crying for five minutes. She noticed that his breathing was exaggerated, giving her an example, a beat, but she had been mimicking it. It helped. The three men began to lead her to the house again, Hayley walked slowly- still locked comfortably in Roger’s arms. They had her sat back on the sofa, big brown eyes red and puffy but the worst of the panic settling down. Years of loneliness had taught her how to get over things quickly.

“How’d I get here?” her voice was broken, she looked up at Brian, the look on her face was devastating- like a lost child.

Then he explained it. That there were tears in the fabric of the world. That time didn’t always run in a straight line and that sometimes people disappeared and reappeared in another time. He’d admitted that he had no idea how to return someone to their own time- there was stories of people doing it but no method. Hayley thought of all the stories of disappearances in her area. It made sense. 

Roger and Freddie reassured her that she’d find a way to get back, and that she could stay with them until she did. Since she didn’t have anywhere to go, and they had a spare room and needed help with the rent and the store she accepted. But who were these people?  
By the time everything had been cleared up it was past 3 o’clock and no one had eaten, leading Freddie to declare that everyone was coming with him to a nearby pub for lunch and a proper talk about this. Sort things out and get to know each other given they were now flatmates.

So it was that Hayley found herself at a greasy pub lunch with the three boys. They (mainly Brian) had asked a few questions about what life was like in the future- the politics, technology, music etc. She had to reply as safely as possible, not wanting them to learn something they shouldn’t- having read plenty of sci-fi and not trusting it to be entirely fiction after everything that had happened simply that morning. But they seemed to understand that, and didn’t pry (except about downloadable music, they pried a lot about that) .

“We must be so old to you, in your time, I mean,” Roger had commented when Hayley had told them she were born in 2001 compared to his 1949. “I mean here I am 18 but I must be about 70 to you. They’re older still; Brian is 20, and Freddie is 21. Can you imagine, 50 years from now?” He pretended to be genuinely appalled, but had began smiling. Somewhere in his little rant she felt a twinge of unexplained sadness, she laughed it off. Hayley explained that she was 17,so only a year younger than Roger. She had been glad for the friendly banter, the worry of her immediate future still nagging away in the back of her mind the whole time- but as they told her that, while Brian studied for his PHD he worked at a restaurant, and the other two had a vintage clothes shop that needed manning while they were studying, they offered her a full time job.

Hayley then asked them about themselves- warming up to the trio, desperate to get any clues about who they were, and why she knew them. And she did learn a lot. That Brian was studying some science thing (God only knows); Freddie was doing a fashion and design course; and Roger was doing Dentistry, but had wanted to quit for a few months. Soon the meal was finished and Roger told her that she could make herself at home while him and Brian went to practice for their band.


	5. How it began

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smile and wave as the realisation goes running past

Hayley walked back to the apartment with Freddie, an easy chatter had broken out between the two.

“So how come you’re not in the band with the others?” she had asked, something told her that he did something musical.

“Smile’s already got singers, the bassist Tim and Roger do the bulk of the vocals. Brian does his bit too. I just do my studies, maybe one day,” he explained “So what about you, darling?”

“Art and fashion. I work, used to work, will work, whatever, at a tailor’s. I do some of the sewing and cutting there. I was hoping to go to Uni next year.” she answered, confusion crossing her features as she thought about the tenses she spoke in, then a hint of sadness. Quickly he detected the melancholy: “Oh, sweetheart, don’t worry. We’ll look after you” he put an arm over her shoulders as the pair walked up the street where they now lived, “I know we barely know each other, but I know what it's like starting from scratch. You will always have a place with us. And I can tell Rog is rather taken with you.” he gave her a playful nudge as they reached the front door. She huffed but didn’t say anything. 

They entered the house and Fred showed her to the spare room that would now be her’s. It was a bit small, with a large window on the far side and a single bed (minus the dressing) under the window covered in college books. On the left wall there was an empty wardrobe and dresser, and on the right there was a stack of music equipment and records, as well as some art supplies and a box full of fabric. “We can move some of the stuff into the loft, also the shop has a lot of spare clothes that we haven’t sold yet that you could have,” he smiled at the brunette, shifting some of the mess to one side, “Thank you, really Freddie, I don’t know what would have happened if you guys hadn’t found me.” she said, genuinely taken away with the kindness of these relative strangers. Fred tried to make light of the conversation; “just remember, love, you don’t owe us anything,” He saw how she seemed to accept his statement before continuing “But if you know about sewing then I’ll probably need your help at some point. The design course has a fashion bit that I’m failing.” They talked a while longer about their new living situation as they cleared the room enough that she could actually use the bed and there was space to move.

The comfortable silence was broken by Freddie; “Won’t your family be wondering where you are?” his eyebrow raised.

“I doubt it, they’re away for a few weeks before Christmas, I’m not so close to anyone, so I don’t think I’ll be noticed,” she shuddered to remember the distance between her and her family- she was an only child, her parents had worked for long hours so she never really saw them (her grandmother had raised her but had passed away a few years back), and most of her friends were likely distracted by more important things “That’s if time works in the same way and not like in Narnia.” At that he grinned a little, glad that somethings would last the 50 year age difference between them. He looked across at her as they finished making the bed, saw the tinge of sadness and loneliness she felt, before smiling when she looked up.

She decided that dwelling on her disappearance was making things awkward, “Well, thank you again for helping me with the room. And everything,” a grateful smile fell over the brunette’s features. “What time is it?” she tried to change the subject before an awkward silence fell or Freddie asked more about her family.

“Nearly 6. And it's no problem. Bri and Rog should be setting up for the pub gig soon if you want to came along,” he suggested heading back towards the kitchen, Hayley following behind, still unable to place any information on her new flatmates. “What kinda music you into?” he asked grabbing two coats and handing her one, “Old stuff, well, maybe not now. Rock ‘n’ roll, Hendrix, Beatles, Mott.” she was sure there was someone she was forgetting, but let it go as they walked out into the cold street, dark with the lack of working street lights. “Same, well Hendrix and the Beatles anyway,” he answers, leading her across a busy street to a pub filled with students. It looked surprisingly inviting- she wasn’t sure if it was the warmth of the place that seemed to exude a friendly atmosphere (for a pub), or the fact that it was a distraction that made it so alluring.

The crowd chattered loudly into their beers, Hayley and Freddie made their way to the bar, there was a few people ordering drinks who gave her a strange look, not recognising her. When one (a blonde that seemed to be an acquaintance of Freddie's) asked he simply answered that Hayley was a friend of his little sister's who was staying with them for a while. The story made sense, it would explain why they didn't know her that well and why she would be staying for some time (possibly forever in this era if there was no way out).

Hayley felt a sudden sadness at the thought of being so far from home but his it under her excitement ‘ I'm in the 60’s’ was the thought that she had spent the majority of day thinking about. Now as she saw the band that was currently on stage shift themselves and switch some equipment with Smile, she saw Roger come on stage to adjust the drumset. He was still wearing a green floral shirt and flares, she noted, as he scanned the room looking for someone, probably Freddie or one of his classmates, she thought. However Roger looked past all of his acquaintances and friends, his eyes finally catching the small future-girl standing by the bar. She smiled slightly at him, her eyes warm and her face flushed from the warm room. He looked back before it became too awkward, Brian and Tim having got onto the stage themselves and finished setting up their own tools whilst he had been staring at the girl. Soon enough he found that Tim was counting them down the the first song and he had started drumming.

***

Hayley heard them play a few songs, noting how each regarded their instrument and how they rolled a harmony between the three of them. The music was new to her (she had been expecting that), but every now and then there was a bit of chord of a handful of notes she thought she recognised. However she put it down to musical influences or coincidence.

“They’re good aren’t they?” Freddie broke into her thought process, “I mean, they’ve only been a band of 6 months”

“So is this all quite new for everyone?” she asked, genuine curiosity in her voice (part of her would be glad, if they had only just met recently then she wouldn’t feel like she was imposing on a lifelong friendship).

“Yeah, Brian’s doing a PhD so he’s been here a while, Roger just joined in August last year, I’ve been here two and a half years- same as Tim- we all met ‘bout a year ago. So you’ve not much to catch up on there.” Freddie, when he spoke was odd - in her opinion. He seemed to be everywhere in a room at once, but somehow gave her undivided attention when the was telling her information. She felt she’d seen it before, the feeling was becoming more and more conscious- but it felt as if there was a blank in her memory.

Maybe there was- perhaps she had hit her head worse than she thought when she fell the night before (it was a lifetime ago) or perhaps the universe didn’t want her to remember certain things, in case she changed history or something. Or perhaps she was just imagining things. Either way she soon forgot about it when Smile finished their set, handing over to the next band. Freddie then grabbed her hand and tugged her off to the side of the bar, around the back of the stage, where Brian and Roger had settled down to a pint, Tim not far away talking to a girl he’d been eyeing.

“What’d ya think, Hayley?” Brian said, a slight slur to his words and a happy grin painted across his face.

“Loved it.” she grinned back, the alcohol having taken the edge of off her nerves.

“Well that’s because we are unparalleled, the best in the world,” Roger started, the large quantity of alcohol having hit him hard, “We’re the bloody Kings and Queens of this place!” he yelled enthusiastically, half gone, knocking things over. But Hayley didn’t notice that, she was thinking to hard on what he’d said. Why did ‘Queens’ stand out?

Then it hit her.


	6. I have my regrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roger gets drunk as Hayley realises the gravity of the situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delays in updating- please continue to be as kind and lovely as you all are, you gorgeous bunch.  
> Love you all,  
> Honey xxxx

“Are you okay? Hayley, dear you’ve gone a bit pale,” Freddie’s tone was worried, the noise of the pub and Roger’s drunken calls drowned out. They were Queen. At least that’s what they would become. But these students didn’t even know it yet. She was the only person in the world who knew what was to become of them.

Freddie called her name again, “Yeah, I’m good. Sorry- I zoned out for a minute.” she laughed it off, hoping to convince him, he gave her a final look, accepting it as an answer. As the minutes became hours, Hayley switched between looking at the beer stained floor and staring at the band and Freddie- he who would be one of the greatest legends of music the world has ever seen- he who sat opposite her in a small pub table, trying to slyly pinch Brian’s drink- while the Physicist tried to put the drunk drummer back onto a chair from where he had fallen.

She couldn’t tell them. Not yet. What if she changed something? The course of their careers- hell, the course of human history could be rewritten for all she knew! What if she had already managed to change something? What if-

“Hayley, help me, please!” Freddie was holding up a slightly unconscious Roger, “I think this means we’re going home now.” He said, Roger loudly mumbling some response as Hayley grabbed his other arm and put it over her shoulder, his body warm against hers.

They started out of the Pub, Hayley was glad for the distraction- she didn’t want to think about the fact her new flatmates were 50% of a world famous rock band that hadn’t even been created yet. Brian and Tim were just outside of the pub, smoking. The guitarist offered her a kind smile when he saw the trio leaving the pub, wishing her a ‘good luck’, before returning to his conversation, hands plucking away at the instrument she now recognised as Red Special.

At some point during the 10 minute walk home, Roger had started talking, calling the small brunette his ‘future girl’, pulling her and Freddie towards him, nearly managing to knock them all off balance a few times. They walked in silence apart from this, although it was comfortable.The cold night air must have started to sober him up (not by much, but he was walking a bit more than being dragged) as they got to their front door.

“Can you hold him a minute, Darling? Just while I get the door and lights.” Hayley nodded, feeling Freddie distribute the weight of his inebriated friend so that he could let go and enter the house. 

Roger clung to the small woman that he’d met just the day before. What a stroke of luck. She looked so pretty. His future girl. Maybe she would be his girl in the future. She gave him a strange look, cheeks flushed. Freddie returned before anything else happened. Together they pulled the blond into the house, dumping him as gently as possible (not very) onto the sofa.

If only he knew he’d said that out loud.

***  
Roger was lucky it was a bank holiday Monday. The mere thought of going to any lecture with the hangover he had at that moment made him curl up into a small ball on the sofa. He opened his eyes to see a cup of tea had been placed in front of him on the table, the smell of bacon drew his blurry gaze to the kitchen.

Pulling the blanket around his figure he padded unsteadily towards whatever Freddie was cooking. Except it wasn’t Fred, it was Hayley. Hayley who had seen him get shit-faced the previous night, Hayley who was currently seeing him in just his boxers and a blanket, stinking of yesterday's alcohol and looking like he’d slept in a hedge. ‘Fuck’ he thought, embarrassedly covering himself as much as he could with the blanket. 

“Good mornin’,” her voice was tired, she didn’t look like she’d slept well and was wearing a large black shirt (Brian’s that he left for when he stayed round) and some pyjama shorts (her own presumably), “Freddie said he was going down to get some things from the shop… I’ve made you some breakfast, not sure what you like- thought bacon might help the hangover though.” she said, shyly pushing a plate in his direction.

He noticed the nervousness in her movements, “Smells lovely. Thank you- you didn’t have to.” she looks like she is about to argue with his judgement but he cuts her off, not wanting her to have to justify herself, “How did you sleep?”

“Not too bad, guess it’s always gonna be strange in a new place,” they both settled at the table with their plates “What about you? Sorry we left you on the sofa.”

“Like a log, ‘cept for the hangover.” he groaned, “Do they have cures for this shit in the future?” he sounded both playful and pained. Hayley laughed a quick ‘not yet’ at him, but the mention of the future reminded her that she was in the presence of a rock star, and miles away from home.   
In truth it wasn’t just the new bed that had made her stay up the bulk of the night. The feelings that she could not even begin to describe, a mix between excitement and fear had kept her on edge all night. 

Before, she had mostly wanted to go home- this wasn’t her time and as much as it was interesting to live in she just wanted to go home- regardless of the fact that she wasn’t close to anyone in her own time. Even her closest friend, Matt, had moved away over a year ago, and they didn’t talk as much as they should. Her grandmother who had raised her had died a few years back and music that was made years before she was even born was the only thing keeping her sane in the midst of the loneliness. She wasn’t unhappy, so to speak, but Hayley had always felt like she didn’t belong, like the time of her life had passed decades ago- she never felt her future was going to be that bright.

Now, she wasn’t sure. On one hand, yes, it was exciting- living with Queen, even if just for a few days was the experience of a lifetime. She felt quite natural around them as well, like she was working on the same frequency- hell, she even had a place to stay, friends (if you could call them that since they had only just met), a job- already it seemed like it was not bad. However- she knew how their lives would go- and she wasn’t a part of them (which to her mind meant that she didn’t stay long enough to cause an impact), and even if she was stuck in the past and did stay friends with Queen (which she thought was highly unlikely), could she bare to look at them when someone like Prenter showed up, or when the marriages started to dissolve, or when Freddie-

“I’m back, darlings!” a sing song voice cut across her thoughts, Roger looked up from where he had his head on the table as Fred swanned in, dumping a bag full of clothes and the handful of food onto the table.

Roger groaned as the curtains were flung open and the bright morning light flooded in, Hayley offered him a light smile, still unsteady around him after his drunken words last night that he had surely forgotten.

“Oh, look, it’s woken up,” he said pointedly at Roger before turning and grinning widely at Hayley, “I guessed your size on a lot of these, but you’re tiny so they should fit, picked ‘em myself. I’ll show you the rest when we get to the shop- we’re opening today for a few hours, then Brian’s coming along for lunch,” he said, looking between the clothing and Hayley like a needy child, prompting her to go across and look.

The clothing was marvelous, she grinned from ear to ear as she went over it, all flower power patterns and wools and denim. Freddie glanced at her, happy she liked his choice. He was about to tell Roger to shower, when he saw his friend also looking at the girl with fondness, ‘a touch of something more’ he thought.

But, it was going to be a busy enough day, so rather than bully Roger, he pushed him in the general direction of the bathroom and helped Hayley pick some clothing out for the day.


	7. Prophet's song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hayley fears she could change the future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my Darlings,  
> Thank you all so much for all the support and comments you've sent in, I do hope that you all enjoy the next chapter, you beautiful people.
> 
> With love,
> 
> Honey
> 
> xoxo

Chapter 7- Prophet’s song  
Hayley listened patiently to Freddie, and Roger when he butted in, as he explained the lay out of the small shop, and some of the basics of running it, as well as what happened for the stall they had on the market on Sundays. She took mental notes as this would be her job for the foreseeable future. Even though the shop was closer in size to a shed than what she was expecting, it seemed to be packed full, and had some good quality items that had attracted a handful of upper-middle class customers dipped in and out in just the few hours she was there.

“Brian should be here with the sandwiches in about 20 minutes so I’m just gonna nip down and get coffees,” Freddie dismissed, grabbing a thicker coat for the colder damp afternoon that had fallen over London “Ta-Ra!”

“If you want you could stay ‘round front of shop so you can keep studying, I’ll go finish up round the back.” Hayley offered, knowing Roger needed his study time and that he would be able to revise around the customers better than while shifting boxes in the back.

“If you don’t mind,” he saw her smile and say ‘of course not’ before she turned to go to the back of the shop. He stole a look at her; she suited the clothes well, Freddie had indeed picked her size correctly. It was then that a customer came in and he got distracted.

Hayley reached the back of the shop, a small room where they kept stock. She decided that she decided that she needed to speak to Brian when he appeared. He might be able to help her understand what she could and could not do, but she still had to be careful. If she accidentally told him about Queen would he try to start it prematurely? Would that finish it before it began?

It was a risk she had to take, she needed to know if there was any chance she’d start fading away like Marty Mcfly, or if the multiverse theory was correct (she was a big follower of the works of Douglas Adams) and she could effectively do as she pleased. There needed to be some answer, and if anyone could come close to finding it, it would be Brian.

She started sorting through the clothes- large Edwardian hats and ragtime fur coats, hearing the door open and close a handful of times in the 15 minutes it took. She tried to recall everything she knew about the band, more specifically the band members. She knew the basics, like who the members were (which was more than they did given they hadn’t met John yet), she knew about their careers and most of their life stories. She wasn’t so sure on dates or locations; she was pretty sure that Smile had about a year left before Tim quit, she knew Queen formed soon after. She had to make sure she didn’t interfere in that schedule. 

But how would she explain any of this to the Physicist without giving it away? Hayley signed heavily before finishing off, when she heard Freddie giving a yell. She rushed out front to see the future lead singer bolt out of the door.

“What happened? Is he hurt?” she rushed forward towards Roger, who sat there looking a mixture of annoyed and amused.

“Nah, he’s fine. Being a right git,” he answered, adding quietly “I accidentally sold his jacket.”

“So has he just bolted after the guy?” 

“Pretty much. In fairness, he did leave it lying around.” Roger was nonchalant, but did look genuinely guilty about it. A few minutes later the shop door opened again, the cold air entering first, followed by a bemused Brian, and a disgruntled Freddie at the rear, clutching his jacket.

***

When the boys had forgotten the incident, rather when they had forgiven it pretty soon after, something stuck in Hayley’s mind. Hayley remembered reading about it in an interview, and the brunette kept it in her head as they divvied out the food and drink and started chatting. Hayley’s biggest issue was not what had happened, rather what could have happened- for instance, if she hadn’t volunteered to finish up at the back of the shop then she would have noticed the coat and moved it- and the incident would have just fallen out of history. Now a story about a jacket disappearing would have meant one less anecdote, but what would happen if she changed something major? She really needed to talk to Brian- he seemed the most likely to know anything.

The opportunity to do so arose after they had closed up the shop, Freddie and Roger had gone to the bank to cash the money they had earned that month, and Brian was walking her around the area so that she could familiarise herself with it.

They walked down the high street, everything was so surreal Hayley had to remind herself she was in the sixties (although the idea that she was in a coma or dreaming was becoming increasingly prevalent) Hayley waited until the conversation dried up before broaching the subject.

“Brian, is there any chance you know anything on, umm, the effects of time travel?” she knew it wasn’t something he’d studied much- space dust being his domain- he might not know, or hadn’t been taught yet, or perhaps they still hadn’t discovered it in that time of history.

“What do you mean? I don’t think it will affect your health, but you were looking a bit pale the other day.” he looked worriedly at the girl, inspecting her for illness.

“I’m fine! Don’t worry, I meant if I changed something in the past could it affect the future? Like the butterfly effect,” she said, noticing that they’d stopped walking and were now standing on the corner of a street she recognised as the one their- hers too- flat was on, “I’m just worried that I could do something to change human history.”

“I doubt it. From what I understand the events that could be changed are not as important as those that can’t be changed-”

“But how do I know which is and which isn’t set in stone?” she interrupted looking straight into his hazel eyes to reinforce her point.

“You can’t, but it’s not like anything's likely to happen, and I doubt you’ve heard of anyone who is from here, have you?” she shook her head, dying to say ‘Yes, you. I’ve heard of you!’ but instead she looked down, pulled the coat around her shoulders tighter, and started to walk with Brian down the street.

“I’m sorry, I was just worried...” she said quietly, ashamed of her needing to ask, and ashamed on how much she has to rely on these people.

“So am I, for you, I mean. It’s gonna be draining psychologically for you if you do start to recognise someone or if you do see something you remember from your time,” of course Brian is the one that would understand how she felt, even if he wasn’t aware of it. “You can talk to me, you know, if you need. And don’t apologise. But could I ask one thing?”

“Sure.” They had arrived at the flat by then, lingering outside the gate.

“If there is something going to happen, like a plague, or a war or something- tell me. You shouldn’t have to suffer the knowledge in silence alone.” Brian smiled at her, he seemed rather the brotherly figure. But she knew he was going to go so far, they were probably going to forget about her. Could she really tell him if she needed to?

“I promise, Brian.”

***

The boys where still at the bank at 6 o’clock when Hayley decided to get some dinner started up for the three of them. She thought back to her talk with Brian, should she tell him about Queen? What if she stays with them, does she tell him he’ll nearly die in America?

She chooses to ignore all the nagging questions and concentrate on the meal, finishing it off as the door opened and her flatmates trudged in.

“Smells lovely, Hayley,” Roger commented, pulling his coat off “Did you see much of the town with Brian? Or did he just show you the boring bits?” the smirked, grabbing glasses and cutlery as Freddie found some cheap beer to go with the meal.

“He took me around the college blocks, need-to-know places and the library” she answered as they settled in to eat.

“So the boring places then,” Freddie answered, mouth full of food. “Food’s good by the way.”

“Thanks. So I’m guessing that you’re both back to school tomorrow,” they both nodded, “Do you want me to run the shop during the day?”

“If that’s not too much work, like I said, don’t feel like you have to outdo yourself to stay here” Freddie gave her the same sincere look as before, showing that behind all the fun and games he really did care.

“Anyhow, way you cook, I wouldn’t wanna get rid of ya,” Roger gave her a light kick under the table, smiling widely as she blushed a deep red.

“I'm not going to outdo myself, but it makes sense, the shops not that busy, but there will still be customers,” she said, hoping they would let her have some purpose “plus it will give me something to do, better than being stuck in here all day.” 

“Well I don't see any problem with that” Freddie said.


	8. Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait my lovelies, I have had a few ideas as to where to take this- but (as always) any input would be brilliant. Also, is any one interested in doing RP, I have just set up (revived) a tumblr account and would love to hear from anyone- especially those interested in Maylor and Deacury.
> 
> Love you all, special beans.

Hayley fell into the schedule surprisingly easily. She worked hard both in the shop and trying not to ruin world history while Roger and Freddie were at College. That was her routine, work in the shop, spend time with the boys, go to the Smile shows with Freddie, start again. But she enjoyed it.

She found that she was able to fit in with the boys much better than she had anticipated, better than she was able to fit in at home, in her own time. In 2018, she was pretty self reliant. Yes, there was people she could turn to, but on the whole, she wasn’t connected to anyone anymore. The family she loved had been he grandmother, who had passed away a few years ago, and a friend who had moved. She thought back to all the friends she’d had, the groups that she’d been part of at school. But she never clicked with anyone, they all had someone else.

It was the morning of the 17th of December, Hayley wakes up in the creaky bed that’s been hers for the last fortnight. It’s still dark outside, and the world is quiet- next door she can hear Freddie snoring lightly and Roger putting on some music quietly in the kitchen. She decided not to interrupt him, not that she had a problem with him- but she found it difficult to not just stare at him. He always had a friendly tone, a painful reminder of how she never knew anyone that well in the future, and that the journey to the past had to end at some point, although no one seemed to want to talk about that.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a knock on her bedroom door, quickly pulling the covers off of her and throwing on yesterday’s cardigan over the loose men's pyjamas she wore before opening the door. Roger stood with two cups of tea in his hands, a lazy smile on his face.

“Hey, I was wondering if you were awake,” she let him in, he sat down on the desk chair as she timidly sat on the bed “I feel like we should get to know each other a bit, ya know, since I guess we’re spending Christmas together.”

“I thought you’d be going to be with your family” she said, sipping on the tea.

“Nah, me and Fred aren’t going home this Christmas- our families live too far away and the snow’s gonna be bad. Tim is going next week to avoid the weather, Brian is going for Christmas eve cause the Mays are close by, but it looks like it will be the three of us this year,” he didn’t seem that upset, almost as if he was looking forward to it, “So, I felt like we should learn a bit more about each other.”

In truth, he was quite pleased about the snow forecast meaning he didn’t have to spend the holidays with his parents. He had started to grow rather fond of the mysterious girl.

“Okay, so what do you wanna know?” she asked, they fell into an easy conversation, well into the afternoon, he told her about his mates, his mum and sister Claire, she felt free to talk to him about her parents and grandmother, her best friend, about where she grew up and her hobbies. It felt liberating to her- the ability to talk without being afraid to mention something from the future (they agreed to avoid music as she claimed it might influence him). At some point Freddie had woken up and gone to the library, but they didn’t notice, too enthralled in the topic of crappie schools (both smiling when they had something in common with the other- Rugby- for instance, was a pain in the neck in whatever year).

“I bet you get all the boys at your school, love.” he had smiled, moving to sit next to her on the bed, the pair had their back to the wall, missing the first Christmas snow falling on the window pane.

“God no! Christ, I’ve been in one relationship, for about three months at the beginning of high school,” she laughed it of, ignoring the niggling embarrassment, “It was with Matt, the guy who I’m friends with. Bet you had all the girls though.” Hayley knew fine well he slept around a lot in his 20’s and 30’s, presumably he did as a teenage as well

“Nah, same as you really.” he looked down at her “Actually, would you like to for a drink with me? On Friday, I mean. We have a gig in a pub that’s a little further out of town so we’ll be there for some time.” he hadn’t meant for it to sound so nervous, the words tumbled into each other and they both blushed slightly.

“I’d love to.” she didn’t know what else to say. Was she supposed to go with her common sense and stay away from any signs of trouble, or go with her judgment and assume nothing bad would happen?

“That is if you’re not too under aged for the pub. What are you, minus fifty or summat?” he joked nudging her, his side pressed against hers.

“I’ll be 18 in September, which would put me as having been born in 1950 your time,” she replied, having written down in a notebook all the things she was pretending to be; born in 1950, a friend of Freddie’s sister, names of schools and places she said she’d gone to. “Well, we should probably get a move on, it’s nearly 4 o’clock.” she realised, thinking about the fact they’d been there hours, sitting side by side.

***

The following Friday, the five of them packed into a bus carrying as much equipment as they could.

“We’ve never really been introduced before, I’m Tim.” the bassist held a hand out towards Hayley from where he was sat down next to her. She shook his hand and smiled, however out the corner of her eye she could she Roger tense from where he sat between Brian and Freddie at the back of the bus. Hayley was brought back, for the umpteenth time that day, to the fact that she was going out for a drink with him today. He’d been acting like it was some sort of date all week long- maybe it was. Or maybe it was just a friendly drink after a gig.

Soon any tension between the boys dissipated. Freddie showed them some little ‘Smile’ logos he’d made. They were kind of like pacifiers with what looked like the Rolling Stones icon on the front, she grinned at them as she recognised them. Brian had had his little camera in a bag, but was now taking photos willy-nilly, until (after about an hour) the bus reached their stop, and the group trundled their stuff out of the vehicle.  
In the distance she could see a large theatre. The boys has informed her they would be playing in in of the smaller rooms, but still, this was the largest place they had played. ‘If only they knew’ she thought.

“Hey, you three stand there with the logos on” Freddie called to them, pushing them into place so that the hall was behind them. He took the camera off of Brian, handing it to Hayley, nodding to her to open it and get the machine ready. It was as Fred ducked away from the shot, as the three band members put the logos on their faces, that Hayley recognised the photo, remembering it a moment before she took it.

Part of her wanted to feel bad for messing with time, she could have changed it. But it was already too late, she was sure she'd appear in some of the pictures from the bus, and for whatever reason: this seemed okay.

They were halfway through the gig, an early version of 'doing alright’ streaming through the crowd before reaching her and Freddie at the back of the venue. Hayley was making an effort to not think too much about her date, chatted with the flamboyant man next to her.

“One of these days, Hayley, I'm gonna play here,” he said, confidently looking around “Perhaps even in the main hall.”

“Oh, I think you'll do more than that.” She said, not able to keep the small grin off her face as she recalled his legacy that as of yet remained his dream. He looked at her- maybe she should watch her tongue a bit better, but the glimpse of a knowing look that popped up behind his eyes made her forget about it.

However the gig ended, preventing the brunette from revealing too much thankfully. The five of them stood outside the hall, it was only 7pm, but the darkness fell heavily on the poorly lit streets.

“Right so, Fred, Tim and I will take most of the stuff back, are you two cool to carry the amps? They're heavy but there's only two.” Brian asked, tucking the camera away.

“We'll be just grand,” Roger gave him a sincere look, like a child promising to behave “You away now?”

“Yeah, mum phoned to say the weather's set to be bad so I'm going early tomorrow morning.” Brian had just finished talking when the bus turned the corner and drove down the street towards them.

“Well if I don't speak to you before then: Merry Christmas, Bri,” Hayley said giving him a quick hug and peck on the cheek before doing the same to the bassist “you too, Tim.”

“Merry Christmas, doll” Tim replied as Hayley stood back next to Roger, who appeared to physically tense at his band mates words.

“Right, well, I’ll see you two at home,” Freddie broke the tension, waving at Hayley and Roger as he pushed Brian and Tim towards the now stationary bus “Have fun on your date!” Before anyone could argue, they had got on the vehicle and it had rolled round the corner. Hayley laughed, unsure of what else to do so as to not make it awkward- becoming more comfortable as the blond’s laughter chimed in.

***

They arrived at the small, half-empty pub, both carrying amps and cold from the outside. They were given a small table in the back corner- the old woman that ran the place (who must have been in her 90’s) had told them that they should be near the fire to warm them up; “Can’t have two young things like you getting the chills. What’s your names then?”

Roger replied for the both of them, helping to put the amps down next to the table, before going around to pull out a chair for Hayley. The old woman smiled at the pair, “Oh, young love- I hope you’re treating your wife well.” neither were able to speak, both blushing profusely as the woman gave them a knowing look, before turning and heading back to the main area.

“I guess it’s better than when they think I’m a girl.” he cut the awkward silence as they waited for the bangers and mash to arrive.


	9. Chapter 9; Dreamer's Ball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW (sort of): Period typical homophobia, I'll explain in the end notes.
> 
> Thank you so much for your continued support, I'd love to hear more comments and criticisms, and now my Tumblr account has been revived I can be accessed on that xx
> 
> Honey.

The meal had gone well. The old woman had smiled at the sweetly before disappearing, and the waiter had brought them the food. Although it had stayed predominantly on the friendly side, the two felt like they had known each other for years, and Hayley quickly forgot her worries about changing anything, deciding there and then to live as if she didn’t have any foreknowledge. Unless it could help. They talked for a long time while eating, and eventually finished the day off with a few drinks out of the bar. Hayley was glad she had started to earn money of her own- given she worked full time (Fred and Rog only did part time) she had managed to scrape together enough to pay half.

Walking towards the bus station slowly and in a comfortable silence (there was no rush as the next bus was the midnight one and it was 11:15pm).

“Are you looking forward to Christmas then?” Roger looked down at her, breaking the quiet as he set the amps on the ground.

“Yeah, I suppose. It's gonna be strange- first Christmas without my family.”

“Were you close to them?” Roger wasn’t sure about her family- for all they talked and told each other she had never mentioned her parents anything other than trivially.

“Not hugely. With the farm and everything there was always lots of work to be done.” her father worked the land and looked after the sheep since she could remember, he’d be gone all day sometimes. Hayley had been close to her mother when she was very little, but then isn’t everyone at that age? When she started school her mum began to take pupils into her horse riding school, so Hayley didn’t see much of her either. But family was family.

“It’s your first away too, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, my family’s in Cornwall. At least they’re in the same time-period though.” she laughed at that, watching as the bus rolled down the hill in the cold night. Otherwise she might have seen the look Roger gave her as the headlights shone around her, bringing out the slight copper tones of her brown hair.

“Well there’s that I suppose.”

 

***

“Are you sure you don’t want paid back for the bus?” she asked, they were sat in the living room, pyjamas on and hot chocolates in hand, it was past 3 in the morning.

“Nah, you’re good. Ya paid half of the meal anyway. Shoulda let me take care of that young lady,” the faux-strict voice and wagging finger sent her into giggles “Anyway- you struggle with the currency.”  
“Not my fault! Right, when they change it and you don’t know what you’re doing I’ll be the first to laugh at you.” He chuckled at her indignation. The money had been a shock of her, she had expected them to use pounds and pennies, not shillings and ha’penny bits. She always felt like a bit of a mug when she was working at the shop and had to look at a cheat-sheet (which Freddie had drawn up whilst laughing at her confusion with the coins) for nearly every item she sold.

“Whatever, dear,” he yawned, both suddenly noticing the time “I think we’d better get some sleep before Fred starts insinuating things in the morning. Little bugger.”

 

***

She was in her home, deep in some work for school, ‘Brighton Rock’ playing in the background loudly. She looked out the window. Was something meant to happen? Hayley couldn’t bring herself to get back to the work she had opened. Something felt wrong. She switched her laptop off, quickly got dressed for the cold weather outside, grabbing her phone, walking out of the house.

She felt the cold wind hit her skin as she stepped out onto the garden. Her phone torch poorly illuminated the way ahead of her. She felt drawn towards the willow trees, as if there was something terribly important there. She walked towards it, magnetised by nothing, the wind picked up a little as she entered the patch of willow trees.

And then, nothing happened. An owl screeched, the cows lowed, the leaves rustled. Hayley laughed at herself silently, turning back towards the house. What had she been expecting to happen? She was hardly Alice in Wonderland.

She got back to work, the niggling in the back of her mind. There was no way anything was meant to have happened. She was alone- perhaps it was paranoia. Or she was just tired, it was getting to 2am, according to her phone- best get to sleep.

 

***

 

She wasn’t one to dream much. Not that she never did. Just not very often. But when she woke up, head still under the covers, she thought about the strange dream- going to the past. She must have spent too long on the internet- the dream had seemed so vivid.

Hayley was actually sad to leave dream as she stretched, tugging the covers away from her face-

“Wakey-wakey!” Freddie was leaning over her, face obnoxiously close to hers.

“Ahh! Freddie, Jesus Christ! Scared the bejesus outta me!” she clutched her chest, the shock covering up her realisation that it wasn’t a dream, rather it was- not leaving was the dream. She was shocked how little she was bothered by it, she was in the wrong time and far from home, but all she could do in that moment was laugh with Freddie. Maybe it was for the best- she fitted in.

“Soooo, nice date?”

“It wasn’t a date, Freddie.” she rolled her eyes as he sat on her bed, clearly awaiting juicy details that didn’t exist.

“What, not even a little kiss?” Freddie said, getting pushed out of the way as Hayley got out of bed completely, heading to the pile of clothes to find something warm for the day.

“Just ‘cos you never get the birds, Freddie, doesn’t mean you should bully everyone else.” the voice, croaky and rough from sleep, grumbled from the other side of the door. Roger. Hayley looked over at Freddie, nearly missing the flicker in his eyes before he regained his smile, calling back, “Hard to get any when I share a room with you.”

Hayley hadn’t thought about this before, Freddie wasn’t straight- she knew but hadn’t really thought about- but he wasn’t out yet. Hell, he wasn’t even dating Mary so there was a chance he didn’t know for certain himself. She decided not to say anything, Roger hadn’t said anything offensive and had no malicious intent behind the comment other than he was cranky. If she was in her own time, she might have said something; but she remembered Matt had told her homosexuality was only legalised in the late 60’s (she couldn’t remember when), she didn’t want to say anything incase it offended Fred (especially if he wasn’t sure of himself).

In the end, she didn’t have the opportunity to say anything, Roger walked into the room (still shirtless).

“Yeah, they’s all just flock to the true beauty,” he looked around the room, “Christ, this room is still tiny, even cleared up a bit it’s like a Hobbit hole.”

“If you’d all like to get out of the Hobbit hole, I’d quite like to get dressed in piece.” Hayley quipped back, having been holding a pile of clothes for a while, waiting for the boys to bugger off.

“Alright! Alright! Roger, no tits for you today.” Freddie said, pulling Roger (who only looked vaguely annoyed at the comment) out of the room.

Hayley had to laugh, she wasn’t likely to get offended, and over the past few weeks she had found that the three of them shared the bordering on offensive humour, all of them just saying what they liked quite often.

She missed home. But she’d miss this more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, for the long time in updating, but- as ever- thank you so much for sticking with the story. I am considering putting this story into Spanish and Italian (possibly French too- see how it goes), so that might be happening.
> 
> Also I have changed the tag list again- this time to include period typical homophobia. I wrote it as something that would have happened, it's not particularly rude (as far as I am aware), and only really hints at attitudes and ideas most people had at the time. I myself am in a slightly homophobic family (I'm pansexual) and was raised to say the same things as them (obvs not now)- so although I choose Roger as the person who says it, he doesn't mean anything by it. Anyhow, the comment could be read as not in any way homophobic and this note could make people I'm exaggerating, but I'd rather that than someone got hurt by what is intended to be fun.
> 
> However, I do think it would be an interesting take for the future of this piece (thoughts on this please, darlings).  
>  Lots of love from me.


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